The PSOE will file a complaint with the Economic Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of the Community of Madrid against the board of directors of the public company Planifica Madrid Proyectos y Obras M.P.S.A to investigate “possible crimes of administrative prevarication or embezzlement” in the purchase of the 485 square meter penthouse in the Chamberí district.
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This was announced by the secretary general of the socialists in Madrid and Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, who also pointed out that they will request – “since the regional administration does not provide it” – the registry certification of the property, a copy of the public deed of acquisition, the submission of all the documentation that served as “background and basis” for its acquisition, as well as the minutes of the board meeting authorizing the commissioned appraisals and a copy of the deposit contract for the property.
A file, in short, that according to López, is “impossible to understand” and “justify” by a public entity that also had to pay a commission of “tens of thousands of euros” to a real estate agency. “Let justice act”, the Minister stated.
For López, since the purchase of this property became known, the Community of Madrid has changed its version several times to justify the acquisition of said penthouse. Initially, the regional government’s reaction, he detailed, was one of “total normality” by assuring that it would serve as a temporary office for the president of the Community of Madrid while a series of renovations were carried out in the Royal House of the Post Office.
Subsequently, López explained, the Madrid executive, seeing that this was “unsustainable,” indicated that they were going to sell it immediately to allocate those funds to help areas affected by the fires. A goal that the Minister also questioned. And then the one that, from his point of view, was the “most surprising”: when Isabel Díaz Ayuso shifted all responsibility for that purchase, in a press conference, to the Minister of Presidency, Justice and Local Administration, Miguel Ángel García Martín.
“We all saw the look [of Isabel Díaz Ayuso] at that press conference and how she passed the buck to the Minister, who didn’t even know what to say,” López added, while pointing out that the last version, offered yesterday by García Martín himself, turned out to be true: the purchase of a “super penthouse” that was going to be the official residence of the Madrid president. “Excusatio non petita, accusatio manifesta,” said Óscar López.
In that press conference, García Martín, who is also the spokesperson for the Madrid government, announced that this property will be put up for sale “in the coming days,” along with four others that the regional government currently has on Gran Vía, and that together will amount to nearly 20 million euros.
A building, the one in Chamberí, for which the final price was not clarified and which, as the Minister recalled, could not be used as an office according to urban planning regulations. “Besides being a colossal scandal, what Ayuso and the Community of Madrid have done is a colossal botch job,” he pointed out.
Regarding whether it is necessary for the Madrid president to have an official residence, as other regional presidents do, López explained that if she wishes to acquire one, she must do so “through the appropriate channels, with transparency” and approved “by the corresponding bodies.” “What she cannot do is do it secretly, in an illegal procedure, completely illegal,” he added.
On the other hand, when asked about the appearance of different “events” on Planifica Madrid’s website this Friday, Óscar López criticized the public company: “It comes from where it comes, has the background it has, and more than planning the land or improving housing for Madrilenians, the only goal of Planifica Madrid seems to be planning Mrs. Ayuso’s carefree life.”
The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, when asked about this complaint made by the socialists, upon leaving a meeting on the reconstruction of the fire-affected area, declared the following to journalists: “I don’t work for Pedro Sánchez, nor for what he organizes, nor for my adversaries either. When they [my adversaries] return from vacation, we’ll talk, but their job is to be more sensitive to all these people.”
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